Outline:
The group persuades their employer not to kill them, so they all have dinner together instead as planned. The mysterious head vampire makes its presence known. The players do some worldbuilding.
Vital Statistics:
System: Core2D6 (v0.23)
Scenario: Night of the Vampires
Tone: Action, investigation, mild horror.
Safety Tools/Lines & Veils: Mild descriptive horror (PG-13/Buffy at most), No Player vs Player attacks (exception, unless under hypnotism etc), no explicit bedroom scenes, none of the usual isms/phobias.
The party:
Aki: a cautious beastling ranger (with reindeer horns) with a trained hawk as a companion. Failed trader, has a mysterious list of names he’s crossing off.
Jackal: An orc bounty hunter. A scarred and scary appearance, although he says he only cares about the money, has a conscience and moral code.
Vanya: a sarcastic high elf rogue who had once been a vampire, was mysteriously cured, and now just wants to drink vodka and kill vampires (and maybe rescue her sister vampires).
On a side quest/taking a break for a few sessions:
Domovik: A dwarf fighter, protector of homes. Works better at night, sometimes trips over his long furs. Serves a patron saint of homes.
Recap:
GM’s Note: This game was split into two parts, taking approximately 2 hours each:
Part A details the roleplaying part of the session.
Part B link here details some of the lore and the map of the realm that the players created together whilst testing out a world building mini game.
Each part took about 2 hours or so.
Dead Hawk Down?
The Reeve tapped her fingers impatiently on her armour whilst the bard Kolin-with-a-K composed a tune about the treacherous tomb raiders.
More importantly, perhaps, Lord Ashmir, flanked by twelve crossbow wielding men, demanded to know why he shouldn’t kill Aki, Vanya and Jackal for desecrating his family mausoleum. Up above, Aki’s hawk repeatedly squawked twice, its signal for danger.
“Oh, now it warns us,” Jackal muttered.
Vanya burst out that not only had they found and destroyed a vampire nest, they had discovered a secret stash of smuggled goods and should be rewarded for their endeavours, not threatened. Also, did Ashmir know his father’s tomb was empty?
Aki’s hawk had made up its mind and was readying to swoop down and attack Ashmir.
At this point the GM switched to meta mode.
“Aki, here’s what’s going to happen. If you do nothing, your hawk is going to attack Ashmir and will almost definitely die. You can let that happen, you can try to make an Impossible (19) roll on you animal control skill to prevent the hawk attacking, OR here’s another idea I had: Spend 1 fate point now, and we’ll say your beastling character has the power to command animals if you can roll above their Monster Rating using your Animals skill. The power drawback will be, if an animal you control loses all health, you take 1 Fatigue, if it dies, you take an extra fatigue.”
Aki opted to take the extra power, easily rolled against his hawk’s Monster Rating of 7 and averted a potential disaster by telling his hawk to settle on his shoulder.
GM’s Note: This is a good example of how Fate Points can be spent during a session to do a quick upgrade or retcon a power or ability.
I threw it in because I thought it’d be cool tweak to Aki’s beastling character, but I still left the player with the final choice. Okay, in fairness the choice was “dead hawk and probable Total Party Kill or…cool new power?” – but still… Also worth noting that, unlike a Level Up (which also costs a Fate Point), a quick upgrade like this only gives you one new benefit or bonus (plus the obligatory drawback)
Disaster averted, the group showed Ashmir around the trashed mausoleum (after Ashmir casually used the command word to stop the stone golem guardians from attacking.)
GM: “Just to double check, you’re telling Ashmir about the smuggled goods you found?”
Group nodded in agreement.
GM: “P***ing off the local mafia by revealing their secret stash house. Hmmm. I’m sure that’s not going to come back round to bite you on the ass at any point…”
Ashmir slumped at the sight of bones, vampire dust, orc blood and smashed tombs. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Well, maybe this is for the best. There is a story here, which I will tell you at dinner. And once I was an adventurer too, believe it or not, and which of us hasn’t broken into a tomb or two in our time?
Perhaps it is a kindness you have done me, after all…I will see you in a couple of hours. Formal dinner wear is expected, of course. Clean yourselves up in the meantime.”
Dressing for Dinner
Returning to town, Jackal – with a groan – visited the troll doctor Anton to get his wounds tended to.
“Blimey, you’ve been in the wars, intcha, love? Just lie down there and I’ll patch you up, no worries. I don’t think I’m going to have to cut anything off…no, no, I’m just messing with you, just relax darlin’ you’ll be right as rain in no time.”
“Let me warn you,” Jackal snarled, “if there’s any inappropriate touching, I will kill you.”
Anton looked shocked, “What, no, no, none of that love, never! I’m all about consent, me. I’m a very modern troll.”
He then patched Jackal up and – to be fair to Anton – actually helped. He also offered Jackal a very fetching dress (“Whatever you might think about Anton, he’s got excellent taste”) which one of them could wear whilst the other wore nothing at all…
Jackal muttered something about stuffing it down the troll’s mouth, which Anton didn’t take offence at. He probably considered it flirting or just playing hard to get, knowing Anton.
Aki headed to the blacksmith, to find one of the assistants locking the door.
The young man informed Aki that Culpepper had been arrested by the town guard for harbouring a vampire – his son, who the group had brought back the previous day. Aki saw tracks in the snow that were a sure sign of the iron gibbet Culpepper’s son had been contained in. They led to the town guard’s building where a brief argument between Aki and a few of the guards almost got physical.
“Look, just do your job, get rid of the witch that’s making all the vampires, and we’ll do ours, yeah?”
Vanya meanwhile headed to the tailor’s shop to see if she could get a decent dress for the dinner with Ashmir. The tailor was a silver fox, a smooth talker and very skilled. Vanya noticed a back room with some maps in it, but the tailor quickly closed the door and asked Vanya about hidden weapon pockets for her dress, which Vanya readily agreed to.
GM’s note: Vanya’s player decided on the character of the tailor, and we both immediately thought of Garak from Deep Space Nine. Next to the tailor I made a note “definitely not a cardassian spy…”
An hour later, Vanya had herself a top notch one piece little black number which had been reinforced to act as 1 point of armour and had a hidden pocket for a knife.
Jackal also found time to visit the tailor and got a much less welcoming reception.
“You know what this is,” GM said, “Seen it loads of times. Straight up racism. The tailor hates orcs.”
The tailor told Jackal he had nothing suitable but that he could take something off the “returns” rack. Jackal found a suit, ripped off the arms, said “This’ll do nicely” and departed, leaving the tailor aghast and apoplectic.
Vanya, whilst waiting for her dress to be stitched, headed to the church in hope of gaining a blessing. The priest, father Frederick, however, was busy giving a sermon to the packed church. He smoothly weaved Vanya into his story of gratitude for the protection that Lord Ashmir provides his people. With no chance of getting a blessing, however, Vanya left.
Aki, Jackal and Vanya had all noticed that there was an air of paranoia and fear in Svalgrad.
It wasn’t just that the townsfolk were outwardly friendly but hiding deep reserves. There was something else that had started to bother all three vampire hunters. It was as if everyone was constantly looking over their shoulders, scared to speak for saying the wrong thing…
Aki dug through some of his old furs and found something vaguely suitable and the three headed to Lord Ashmir’s castle.
Before they did so, Jackal drew on the breast of his (ripped) jacket a symbol, one vertical line crossed by two horizontal lines. The mark of the notorious assassin he had been tracking for years, who had gone quiet five years earlier – around the same time the Reeve started in Lord Ashmir’s employ…
Aki sent his hawk to perch on the top of the main tower, and the trio entered the castle.
They were stopped in the barbican where they were informed by multiple crossbow wielding men on the other side of the walls to remove any weapons they were carrying, on the order of Lord Ashmir.
Jackal and Vanya took out a couple of concealed knives.
Aki, who hadn’t brought anything, rolled his eyes at the pair.
“Amateurs…”
Ashmir the Adventurer
The Reeve tapped her fingers impatiently throughout the dinner.
Ashmir explained that he had once been an adventurer also, wandering the land with swords and swagger (name drop!) until a disturbing letter reached him from a loyal servant.
Ashmir’s father had become cruel and vicious in the meantime, a hated and feared ruler. Returning home, Ashmir discovered his father had been turned into a vampire, by who he knew not. He was forced to slay his father, but in the meantime the previous Lord of Krvistania had learnt the dark arts of necromancy, and had resurrected his ancestors as vampires.
Ashmir killed his father, but didn’t have the heart to kill off his entire family line as well, so he left them trapped in the tombs.
“Perhaps, as I said, it was a kindness that you did me after all…”
Ashmir proceeded to reward the players for their service.
He offered them one item each from his adventuring days, magical objects that had protected and aided him. A sword that drained life out of vampires and restored the wielder’s health was quickly taken by Vanya. Aki opted for the ring that fired three magical arrows per day from it, whilst Jackal took a cloak of levitation.
GM’s note: I also offered the players one +3 damage bonus item of their own devising. Aki opted for knuckle dusters. Probably a smart call…
At dinner, Ashmir answered a few questions, saying that he was unaware of the Blacksmith’s arrest and that the air of fear in the town was a natural by-product of the curse of the vampires. People were afraid of their neighbours, because who knew which of them might have been turned into a vampire during the night?
Aki asked why it was so urgent to clear the vampires out now. Ashmir replied that Queen Highbright, having recently crushed a rebellion and false claim to the throne, was now touring her realm in her skyship the Royal Command. One of her planned stops was to Krvistania, to witness the Veil in a few days time. This phenomena lights up the sky with prophecies and images of other worlds. Her arrival is a great honour for Lord Ashmir, but the Queen has made it clear her arrival depends on Ashmir clearing the vampire scourge from Krvistania.
Hence, he deemed it best to allow outsiders to investigate the source and discover who the head vampire is .
The Reeve scoffed loudly.
“By the gods, how much longer do you plan to keep up this ridiculous charade?” she snapped.
Ashmir glowered.
“You are dismissed,” he commented.
The Reeve looked furious, but obeyed and left.
The player’s quizzed Ashmir on what the Reeve had meant.
Ashmir sighed.
“The Reeve, like many others including myself, believe that the snow witch is the source of the vampires. However, I did not wish to taint your investigation with our prejudices and suppositions, hence not discussing it.”
The players pressed for information on the Snow Witch, and Ashmir looked glum.
“Truthfully, once we were lovers many years ago, briefly. But some time back, something happed to her, I know not what. She changed, becoming bitter and resentful. She broke off contact with me, and the vampire problem became much worse than it had been. You have noticed the runic signs on their foreheads? It all indicates that she is the source. For the sake of our past I had hoped that this was not the case. Still, if she is the head vampire, then whatever her motives, she must be stopped.
An Unwelcome Presence.
Suddenly, a voice Vanya had hope never to hear again began whispering in her mind.
“Kiiiiiillll Looooord Ashmiiiiiiir!” it hissed.
Vanya, a former vampire, immediately recognised the power of a Vampire Thrall. This ability was only gained by a handful of vampires, allowing them to control vampires they had turned. This was not Vanya’s sire’s voice, but another, which was terrifying on two levels: Vanya was no longer a vampire, so she shouldn’t be affected, and even vampire’s with the Vampire Thrall ability are only able to command those that they have turned.
Vanya made a Hard (13) Focus Check and missed it by 1 point.
“Luckily for me,” the player said, “Vanya has taken a real liking to Lord Ashmir, so she is able to resist the thrall.
GM’s note: This is a basic mechanic for Core2D6 – players can spend luck points to gain a +3 bonus when they fail a skill check, as long as they can explain what was lucky about the situation.
Vanya was able to resist.
“KIIIIIILLLL LORD ASHMIR!” the voice hissed even louder, and Vanya was now forced to try to pass an Impossible (19) skill check. Again, she missed, this time by two points.
“Luckily for me, Vanya really, really like Lord Ashmir now and is able to resist.”
For a third time, the voice insisted.
“KIIIIILLLL LOOOOOORD ASHHMIIIIR!
At this point the player frowned, asked me if this was just something that was going to happen because I’d decided it was, failed the Focus Check and…
…just as Vanya’s hand reached for a table knife, the thrall faded away.
Ending the Session
With dinner ended, the group left the castle.
The next morning they woke up to find Jan, the Blacksmith’s son turned vampire, being dragged to the Iron Gibbet to burn in the sunlight, two days earlier than Ashmir had promised.
Later, the GM realised he’d forgotten something and had to add a quick revision to the ending:
As the player’s left the castle, Aki’s hawk swooped down from the main tower, and screeched twice (its signal for danger).
It swooped back up, circled the castle’s tower and screeched twice again, then came back to land on Aki’s shoulder…
GM’s note: bit annoyed I missed this at the end of the session, but harmless enough as the players were unlikely to do anything about it at this point, all needing some rest and recuperation & having left all their equipment and weapons at the inn. So no harm done.
So, with that couple of hours wrapped up, we all moved on to trying out the world building game…
Hi!
Comments